I’m fascinated by the ways people honor and hurt each other, whether they mean to or not, and what that all means.ĬC: In “It’s Not Going to Kill You,” the first story in your second collection, you highlight the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship through the lens of grief. People would grow apart, then perhaps back together again, then who knew what. I was perhaps fortunate to take permanency for granted as a kid, and then as I got older, I realized my friends would grow and change just as I did, the same for my family, and that relationships were a constant evolution. My relationships for instance with my family-my parents would always be my parents my sister would always be my sister-but the older I got the more I realized that even within those parameters, there was so much room for growth and change. When I was younger, I assumed all relationships were permanent. And as for my interest in relationships, it’s funny to see how my views on things have changed over time. What is it about relationships and the human condition that draw you to them?Įrin Flanagan: First off, I need to send some flowers to Choice magazine for even including me in the same breath as Eudora Welty. Choice magazine compared your “penetrating insights into the human condition” to the work of Eudora Welty. Literary Mama senior editor Christina Consolino caught up with Flanagan to talk about the evolution of relationships, writing hard truths, and how raising children changes people.Ĭhristina Consolino: The human condition, often showcased through relationships, is integral to every one of your stories. She is an English professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where she currently lives with her husband, daughter, two cats, two dogs, and what she refers to as “her friendly, caustic thoughts.” Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in The Colorado Review, Cimarron Review, Prairie Schooner, Crazyhorse, Literary Hub, Split Lip Magazine, Fiction Writers Review, Catapult, and more. The author of two short story collections, The Usual Mistakes and It’s Not Going to Kill You, Flanagan has also held fellowships to The Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, MacDowell, The Sewanee Writers’ Conference, UCross, The Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo. Publisher’s Weekly wrote, “This is a standout novel of small-town life, powered by the characters’ consequential determination to protect their loved ones at any cost.” Flanagan is well-versed in small-town, Midwestern life: she’s lived in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Ohio, and her work focuses on the intricacies and eccentricities of the people living in these communities.
$20.19 (Paperback) Buy BookĮrin Flanagan released her debut novel, Deer Season, in September 2021. University of Nebraska Press, 2021 320 pp.
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